Bebe Barron (1925 – 2008)
Bebe Barron was one of the pioneers of electronic music. She and her husband Louis (1920 – 1989) composed the music for Forbidden Planet (1956), which was the first entirely electronic feature film score.
She was born Charlotte May Wind in Minneapolis. She studied piano at the University of Minnesota and composition with Roque Cordero. She continued to study composition after moving to New York City and marrying Louis Barron in 1947. He nicknamed her “Bebe.”
Louis and Bebe received a tape recorder as a wedding gift and began using it to create electronic compositions. Louis designed ring modulator circuits to generate sounds, and Bebe assembled these sounds into compositions. They began composing scores for short experimental films, and convinced producer Dory Schary to let them do sound effects for Forbidden Planet, which evolved into the creating the full score.
This is the 1952 short film Bells of Atlantis directed by Ian Hugo with Anais Nin reading excerpts from her novella “House of Incest” and also appearing in the movie. Electronic music is by Louis and Bebe Barron: